The Penguin Royal
by Eternally Ebony
Summary: A visit from Uncle Nigel results in the revealing of a family secret. It's going to take a secret just as big to make things right again, but can Private spot something even the history books missed?


**Disclaimer: Penguins of Madagascar do not belong to me.**

**There are a few notes at the end of the story that will be made. Some things will not make sense without them.**

* * *

A white smoke flooded the penguin's headquarters, dissipating slowly to reveal what appeared to be a regular trophy stand, covered in what must be Kowalski's best security measures. All four of the penguins surrounded this case, each standing in complete quiet.

"Private!" Skipper spoke suddenly, breaking the silence surrounding this event, "What can you tell me about this item?"

The youngest penguin, slightly startled by Skipper's words, jumped up and examined the item upon the trophy stand as best he could without actually touching it, "Um... it's a helmet. Made of reinforced carbonate... there's a dent to one side. Whoever wore this was the target of an attempted assassination," Private squinted, "It's a pretty old design, too... there are feathers sown into the sides, indication that whoever wore this believed in the old penguin tradition that attaching your own feathers to a piece of armor will infuse a bit of your own life force into it, offering greater protection," The boy backed up a little, blinking in the direction of his leader, "Um... it's a nice helmet and all, but why is there so much security around it?"

"Sweet, sweet Private..." Skipper smiled, shaking his head, "This helmet belonged to one of the greatest penguin heroes to date: Benjamin Robespierre, the first penguin Patriot who lead an army against the tyrannical Penguin Royals."

Kowalski stepped in, "Named for two of the most successful supporters of the American and French revolutions, Benjamin Franklin and Maximilian Robespierre, he came out of nowhere and inspired the starving penguins of Antarctica to rebel against the forces of Emperor Penguin Louis-Napoleon. More often than not, the charismatic young do-gooder convinced the King's armies to join up with them, only occasionally having to actually fight. When his march finally reached the King's palace, he execu- oof!" Kowalski winced, rubbing his side, still stinging from Skipper's blow, "Er, exiled the Emperor and most of his children to a place where no one could find him. Afterwords, he laid down the foundation for the penguin Republic we have today, refused the offer of a position of power and vanished."

Skipper sniffled slightly, wiping a tear from his eye, "Truly, the greatest of Penguin Patriots. I never get tired of hearing that story."

Private's eyes were wide with awe, "Wow... the helmet of Benjamin Robespierre himself! But wait," He scratched his head, "Why do we have it?"

"Simple, Private," Skipper responded, wrapping a wing around his young subordinate, "Because we are the best of the best!"

"Very few of the penguin teams outside of Antarctica reach the level of success our team has," Kowalski elaborated, "Therefore, the Main Antarctic Militia has declared us the 1st Order Squad, and therefore we received this helmet as a symbol of our rank."

The trophy case suddenly sunk back into the ground, disappearing from view at the press of a simple button. Skipper's face suddenly turned stern as he once again addressed Private, "But remember! This helmet is a symbol of the Penguin Patriots! And, because of that, this helmet's existence within our HQ is a level One classified secret! So nobody knows about this, Private! Understood?"

The young penguin nodded, "Of course, Skippah! I won't tell a soul!"

"Good lad," The older penguin patted him on the head, "Now, what else is on today's agenda? Kowalski?"

The penguin lieutenant proceeded to bring up his clipboard, checking over it with analytic eyes, "Well, first we wake up, then we eat fish and perform for the zoo goers before give Private a lesson in penguin history, afterwords we receive a surprise visitor and... wait, what?"

The four penguins mulled over what this could mean when _Private's 1__st__ Prize_ suddenly burst open, and a familiar penguin flipped out and landed in combat ready pose, not unlike those that the young team used themselves.

The Private's face lit up in surprised delight, "Uncle Nigel!"

"Private, dear boy!" Nigel grinned, embracing his nephew, "Surprised?"

"You bet!" Private exclaimed, moving away from his Uncle, "What brings you to New York city?"

The older penguin laughed in joy, keeping his wing draped over his nephew's shoulders as Skipper would have, "I'm just here for a meeting, dear boy, and I thought I'd visit my favorite nephew while I'm here."

"I'm your only nephew..."

Nigel, for some reason, laughed at Private's statement, "So you are, dear Private, so you are. So," His grin never left his face, "what have I interrupted?"

Remembering his promise, Private responds quickly, "Oh, just a history lesson on Benjamin Robespierre."

For the first time since he arrived, Nigel's smile vanished, replaced by an uneasy looking expression, "Ah... yes, him."

"Uncle Nigel?" Private turned curiously towards his family member, "You don't like Robespierre?"

Nigel shook his head, "I'm sure he was a nice enough man, Private, but he chased a good family out of Antarctica."

Standing not far from Private, Skipper cocked his head in confusion, "You're a Royalist?"

"Royalist?" Private repeated, "Aren't those the people who want the Royal family back in power? Uncle, you're one of them?"

Uncle Nigel's grin returned, eager to explain, "Not just one of them, dear nephew. I'm their only hope! For I am," Here, he paused, "a Penguin Royal."

The entire Rockery gasped in shock.

Nigel grinned, pulling from behind him a photo album, opening it to page one, "Well, you see, during the slaughter that was the Penguin Patriot Revolution, one single member of the penguin royal family escaped," At this point, he pointed to a picture on the first page, of a feminine looking penguin, "The youngest member of the Royals, Princess Maria Antonia de Penguin," He turned to the next page, showing the same feminine penguin standing with a male with one egg clutched below his feet. In the female's wings was a small penguin chick, "She alone managed to flee the carnage and escape north to glorious England where she met my father," Nigel turned the page again, revealing two penguins, Nigel and an unidentified male, proudly holding an egg. From the way they were supporting the small oval, it was a surprise they didn't drop it, "And your grandfather."

Private's eyes widened in disbelief, "Grandmother was a penguin princess?"

"And myself, as well as you and your father, are princes of the Penguin Royal family."

The four soldiers stood, stunned, at Nigel's words. Finally, it was Kowalski who broke free first, whatever knowledge he had of that time period coming back to him, "There were rumors that she survived, considering she was the only member not found after the Revolution, but I'm sure those were simply rumors!" Kowalski shook his head, "It isn't possible for her to have survived!"

"Ah, then perhaps we need a little test," Nigel stroked his beak, "Perhaps a DNA test?"

"And where in Jeffery's Genome would we get the DNA?" Kowalski asked, "Go back in time?"

Nigel shook his head, "Actually, I was referring to this!" Reaching behind his back, his wing returned clutching a tiara. Sown into the small crown were feathers, "This belonged to Princess Maria Antonia herself! A simple comparison between mine -or Private's- DNA and the DNA from these feathers will, no doubt, prove me correct!"

"Well then!" Skipper snatched a feather from the crown, "Let's just see how correct this claim is!" And with that, he turned and pulled a feather off of Private.

Who, in turn, yelped in surprise.

* * *

The DNA profile took nearly an hour to complete.

It was an hour of agony for Private. All he could do was watch, nervously, as Skipper paced the HQ, Kowalski went back and forth from fidgeting uncomfortably and checking the test, Rico played with a rubber band, somewhat bored, and Nigel stood off to the side, awaiting the results with a sort of impatience.

He thought back to a Human story, in which a random woman pretended to be a princess and had been treated as such until her death, when they found out otherwise. Perhaps this worked the same? But, if so, why had his grandmother never mentioned it? Of course, it wasn't like she'd had much chance. The earliest -and only, really- memory he had of her was of a sick, frail looking female penguin lying on her deathbed, whispering to each of her children advice that she swore would last them a lifetime.

In Private's ear, she had whispered, "No matter what happens, let your courage and your heart guide you. You will find the right path."

So far, the advice was working out. Private was willing to see how far it would take him.

When the test was completed, Kowalski machine gave a long 'beep'. It startled all members of the rockery and after a few moments of absorbing the moment, Kowalski went to retrieve the test. In Private's mind, it was an agonizingly slow process of pulling the test from the machine and examining it, though he didn't need to announce the results in a slow, whispering voice, which he did anyway. The expression adorning his beak clearly told them the results.

"I don't believe this..." Skipper muttered in shock, "One of my men... a Penguin Royal..."

"T-the crown could be a fake!" Private blurted out, mostly in shock himself.

Skipper shook his head, "Not possible Private. The craftsmanship on the crown, the way the feathers were intertwined... it's genuine, and I can guarantee it hadn't been tampered with before today."

"Well, I can tell you need a moment to yourselves, to absorb this small miracle, so I'll go out and announce our position to all your neighbors," He frowned in thought, "Maybe then you'll get the respect you deserve from those mammalian ingrates..."

The team sat in shock for a few more minutes before Private snapped out of it enough to glance at his older teammates. And realize they were glaring at him. Each of the team turned tail and left. Kowalski opened the door to his lab. Rico moved up the ladder. Skipper swung open the entrance to the secret passageway.

Private blinked in shock, "Guys! Wait!"

They didn't turn around. They didn't scold him. They didn't slap him. They just ignored him and left.

And to young Private, that hurt worse than any injury they could've bestowed upon him.

* * *

When Private surfaced, he was shocked to find every animal in the zoo massed outside their habitat. And staring at him. With slight reluctance, Private moved from the hole and into the open, while every eye in the zoo watched him. Shifting uncomfortably, Private broke the silence by asking, "Does anyone know where my Uncle is?"

"He... He left," Marlene stated, then recoiled slightly. Barely noticeable, if you weren't as sensitive as Private, "So... you're, uh, really royalty?"

"Um, yes, apparently," Private was burning under his feathers, wishing the ground would rip open and swallow him up. Attention he was used to, but not like this. Not when everyone was staring at him like he was some sort of alien.

It was then that the animals in the back of the crowd began moving, as if someone was pushing their -or rather _his_- way through. The voices that accompanied each animal's shoving aside only confirmed his fears.

"Aha!" Julian grinned, joining Private in the center of the crowd, "Der you are, de zoo's newest Royal member."

"I'm not really-" Private found himself cut off by Julian unexpectedly pulling him closer to the Ringtail, gasping in shock.

Julian shook his head, "You are not _YET_ being a Royal. But fear not, for I, the Humble yet brilliant, kind, and handsome King Julian, shall show you de path of de prestigious, de road of de royals!" He guided Private away from the penguin habitat, "And de first rule is dat unless necessary, you do not associate with de common peoples."

"But- but-" Private looked back, through the crowds of animals, to the other penguins in the habitat. They stared at him for a moment, disappointment tangible in their eyes, before turning and re-entering their headquarters. Only Skipper, last to enter, stopped and gave Private one last look, cold and angry, before leaving Private to his fate.

And if Julian's lifestyle was any indication, Private wasn't going to like it.

* * *

He didn't.

For some reason, perhaps because of the Penguin's antics in the past, people seemed almost but not quite afraid of Private. All except Maurice, who gave Private pitying expressions all throughout the day, and Julian, who was determined to take Private under his wing and train him to be a good and proper prince. Which consisted of lessons on how to be, in Private's opinion, an absolute prat.

Which, to clarify, meant being mean to servants, mostly Maurice, and getting people to do whatever you want. Which actually happened now that people knew of his royal blood. Possibly because they were afraid the other penguins would blow them to bits if they dared refused.

Ha. As if.

The penguins themselves made a clear point of avoiding Private. All of them, he knew, were devoted Penguin Patriots, loving their country even more than him. Skipper especially. And it hurt, realizing that they despised him because of something he himself hadn't been aware of until not too long ago himself.

And in between the penguin's new-found hatred, the animal's fear of him and Julian's taking advantage of all of the above, Private felt nothing short of lost. He needed to get away from this crazy zoo.

Which was why Private now found himself sitting on the shores of the pond outside the zoo, where the ducklings swam and the familiar smells of snow cones and pretzels consoled him. It was easy to forget your problems sitting in a place full of such good memories.

But Private didn't come here to forget. He came to figure out a solution to the problem his Uncle had inadvertently caused.

Which was why several penguin history books, borrowed from the penguin HQ, were opened in front of the young penguin. It was nearly impossible to return them now, so he might as well make use of them while there was still a slight chance of proving this was all just one big hoax. But the worst part of it was... it didn't seem to be. Every detail from Uncle Nigel's story, even the illustration of the crown adorning the young princess' head, matched. There was no mistaking it: Private was descended from Royalty.

Oh, how he wished he wasn't...

"Hey there..." Private blinked, turning to his left to find Fred staring at him with his half-lidded eyes.

"Oh... hello Fred," Private sighed, turning back to his books.

The squirrel sat down next to Private, "So, whatchya doin'?"

"Oh, nothing much," Private sighed, "Just trying to find a way to renounce my title as a Penguin Royal."

"Wow. My friend Teddy met a Royal once. But then it turned out to be that fat guy from Burger King."

Private rolled his eyes, flipping through the book on his left, "Unless you want to help me find information about my long dead grandmother, then go away, Fred. I'm not in any mood to put up with you."

Private turned to his left and began thumbing through a history book. Numbly, he noted Fred thumbing through the book on his right and let him. He'd already looked through it. Nothing of note was within it other than fancy illustrations.

He was about half-way through when Fred cut in, "Hey, what about this guy? He looks a lot like your grandmother."

The young penguin rolled his eyes. It was a common mistake non-penguins, especially mammals, made to no end, mistaking penguins for another simply because they looked alike. Before, it had helped Private. Now, it annoyed him. Private turned to inform Fred of this, mind already almost at the breaking point.

Then he stopped. And stared.

"My gosh Fred!" Private grasped the book from him, staring at the illustrations in shock, "This- this could work! This could work!" Without really thinking, he embraced the squirrel, "Thank you Fred! Now if you'll excuse me, I have a family history to make right!" And with that, the young penguin was off.

Fred smiled and waved as he left, "Such a nice little birdie..."

* * *

Unfortunately, making family history right meant breaking into the penguin HQ and violating their most sacred of artifacts: The Helmet of Benjamin Robespierre.

It was not going to be an easy task. The first thing he had to do was sneak into the penguin HQ without the others noticing. Best to wait until they'd left. Secondly, he'd have to find the button Kowalski pushed to summon the pedestal with the helmet on it. That wouldn't be too hard. Then, finally, he'd have to get through Kowalski's defenses to the helmet itself. That one would vary in difficulty, depending how effective the defenses were.

So when the other penguins left the habitat on some sort of mission, Private snuck in, careful to make sure he remained unseen by any zoo goer. A task made even more difficult by the fact that everyone seemed to always be staring at him. Upon re-entering the HQ, Private stopped and smelled the air: stale coffee and fresh fish.

It was good to be home.

Sighing in bliss, Private reluctantly tore away from nostalgia and continued his mission. The button in question was hidden behind Skipper's coffee maker, something no sane person would touch. Despite this, Private carefully moved the machine to the side and pressed the button. As before, white smoke filled the HQ as the trophy stand rose from the ground. Once it cleared, Private carefully stepped towards the stand, wary of any traps the others could have set. Once he determined a clear path that led straight up to the case, the young penguin took small black marker and drew, as best as he could, a circle on the outside of the glass. Nodding, Private moved back away from the stand and began digging under Kowalski's pillow

"Hmm, let's see here..." Private frowned, pulling random inventions out from under the pillow, "Automated Pillow Fluffer, no... Head Massage Earphones, no... Picture of Doris, no... Aha!" The youth grinned in triumph as he pulled out what appeared to be a small pen, "Laser Pen, check!"

Grinning, Private trotted back to the trophy case. The pen in his wing glowed as it hummed to life, creating a fine red streak of light that sliced neatly through the glass upon contact. After carefully tracing the circle, Private removed it slowly, being cautious of other possible traps. Soon after that, he reached in and grasped the helmet.

An alarm went off, flashing red as a snare that escaped Private's attention snapped around his foot, dragging him upward and leaving him hanging upside down.

He stayed like that for a few minutes, anxious, until Skipper and Skipper alone waltzed through _Private's 1__st__ Prize_, an accusing glare adorning his face.

"Well, well," The leader snarled, locking eyes with Private, "What do we have here? A little thieving prince?"

"Skippah, if you'll let me explain-"

He was cut off by the intense glare Skipper gave him, "I don't want to here it," He made his way over to the young soldier, yanking the helmet out of his wings, "This is unforgivable... attempting to steal the helmet of Benjamin Robespierre!"

"But-"

"No doubt trying to destroy this symbol of the Penguin Republic!"

"You don't understand-"

"Not to mention your complete disregard for-"

"ENOUGH!" Private snapped, then cowered away from Skipper. After a moment, he began speaking, starting slowly, "You- you have no idea what you're talking about," Private sniffled, then tried to cover it up with a loud exhale, "Ever since we found out my grandmother is a princess... which, mind you, was the first time I heard this too," Private's voice became louder as he continued, "You guys have been treating me like some sort of criminal. I'm not my great-grandfather, Skippah! I'm not evil!"

Skipper's eyes refused to meet Private's.

"I mean, think about it. Take away all the political stuff -both Royalist and Patriot- and tell me what you see when you look at me!"

The leader penguin sighed in defeat, "I see... a friend who's always risked everything to help others," And with that, Skipper slumped over to the bunks, pushing a button hidden next to them. The rope around Private's foot loosened, allowing him to fall to the ground, "But I don't see why you need the helmet."

"I don't need the helmet Skippah. I just need a feather. Just enough for the DNA," Private's face lit up as Skipper carefully plucked a small feather from the helmet.

"What is this about, Private?" Skipper handed the younger penguin the feather, "Why do you need Benjamin Robespierre's DNA?"

Private shook his head, "I'm afraid to tell you sir... there's a good chance I'm wrong. But I'll let you know if I'm right, I swear."

With a nod, Skipper watched as young Private disappeared inside Kowalski's lab.

And waited.

And waited...

And waited some more.

For almost an hour, Skipper anxiously kept his eyes trained on the door, watching and listening carefully for any indication of Private's activities. When he saw that he was going to get nothing from merely watching the door, Skipper sat down, facing the lab door, and simply shuffled through the playing cards, trying to keep himself occupied. It was finally when Private shouted in joy did Skipper jump up in shock, racing to the door and meeting Private just as he opened it.

"Skippah!" Private grinned, "Could you call a meeting at the Zoovenier Shop? I promise you won't be disappointed!"

"Alright, but what's going-" Skipper watched as Private raced out of the HQ via the ladder, "-on?" The leader watched for a few moments after Private left before racing off to inform everyone of the meeting.

* * *

All the zoo animals were gathered in the Zoovenier Shop sometime later, anxiously discussing what this meeting could have been called for.

A moment after everyone arrived, Private jumped atop the counter, "Um, excuse me?" He called as loud as he could, "Could I please have your attention?" All the zoo animals looked to him with wide eyes and nervous frowns.

Kowalski scoffed, "Gee, I wonder what this could be about? Royal decree on Lunacorns, maybe?"

He winced as Skipper's elbow met with his gut, "Give the Private a chance, Kowalski. Prince or not, he's still one of us," Kowalski blinked, pondering this, before sighing.

"Now, as my Uncle Nigel told you all some time before, his mother -my grandmother- is, in fact, the last living legacy of the Penguin Royals, Maria Antonia. However, there are still some unanswered questions about her. How did she escape Antarctica? Why didn't the hero of the penguins, Benjamin Robespierre, hunt her down? Well," Here, Private paused, "the answer lies with these two sheets of paper. On this one, Princess Maria Antonia's DNA."

The paper was laid on the right side of an overhead projector, revealing a graph charting the genome of the penguin princess.

"And on this one, Benjamin Robespierre's."

On the left side of the projector, an identical graph was laid.

Kowalski gasped, "Good golly! They're identical!"

"Exactly!" Private jumped down into the middle of the crowd, "Maria Antonia, because she was the youngest of the Emperor's children and less likely to inherit the throne, was allowed to do what she pleased and left the castle often. Because of this, she saw the many starving penguins and wished to help them, but knew she couldn't under her father's regime.

"So, instead, she disguised herself as a male, giving herself a new name, and slowly lead the starving penguins to victory against Louis-Napoleon. Her expertise on the castle allowed for the easy sneak attack against the King's guards in the final chapter of the invasion, and her expert military leadership was a result of teachings made to her by an expert on foreign fighting tactics and human history: Her mother, Queen Katherine, who died shortly before the invasion."

Private smiled at the other animals, including his teammates, shocked faces, and continued, "That's also why Benjamin Robespierre refused to become the first penguin president: she knew they'd just be putting another royal in power. So instead, she took off, changed her name, and settled into life with my grandfather."

"Unbelievable!" Kowalski gasped, "The princess? The founder of penguin democracy?"

"Wait, wait, wait," Julian stepped forward, addressing Private directly, "So, you are not being Royalty."

Private shook his head, "I'm descended from Royalty, Julian, but there's no Monarchy in Antarctica anymore, so it means nothing."

The Ringtail Lemur shook his head, disappointed, "What a shame. And here I thought I'd have another Royal to be partying with. Ah, well, I'll settle for de commoners. Maurice! Mort!" The King called out, "Let us be getting our party on!"

And the lemurs left.

Actually, all the animals went to leave, pondering the message Private's story had. Only the penguins stayed, Skipper directing Kowalski and Rico towards him.

"Boys?" Skipper glared sternly at them, "What do we say?"

"I, uh, apologize for the way we've been treating you," Kowalski mumbled, feeling a combination of guilt and humility.

Rico chirped, "So'wwy!"

"I'm sorry too, young Private," Skipper put a wing on the boy's shoulder, "Can you ever forgive us?"

"Of course I can!" The young soldier smiled, just happy to have his friends back, "After all, its not easy dealing with something like this!"

And so the penguins waddled home, Kowalski gushing over Private's origins, Skipper silently applauding the boy's handling of the situation, and Rico walking quietly alongside them.

"You know, it's kind of funny," Skipper mused, "If Nigel, who supports the return of the Royal family -er, Private's family- to power, hadn't told us about your grandmother being the Princess, then no one would have ever known she was also Benjamin Robespierre, who fought against the Royals."

Kowalski shook his head, "Ah, what a paradox."

"But I wonder where Uncle Nigel went after announcing grandmother's title to, well, the entire zoo," Private wondered aloud, "Didn't he say he was here for a meeting?"

* * *

A large group of penguins were massed in the center of a large concrete chamber. Only four penguins, all robed, stood atop the large stage in the center of the crowd. One of these hooded figures stepped up and removed their hood, revealing themselves to be Nigel.

"Finally, after all this time and preparation, we are ready!" He announced to the crowd, "We are finally ready to take back Antarctica!"

The crowd cheered.

_**To Be Continued...**_

* * *

**...As soon as I come up with a good plot for the sequel. (Shot)**

**So... yes. Here it is. A new fanfiction by Eternally Ebony. So, there are a few notes. I shall mark them here:**

**1. In this story, the penguin democracy really has only one party: The Penguin Patriots. Though this is less because of lack of political difference or political monopoly, and more that penguins can deal with political differences without needing 1001 parties. The Royalists aren't really listened to, since all they want is a penguin king and don't actually contribute much to Penguin society. Royalists consist mostly of descendents of the Privileged Class of the Royal Regime and Penguins who grew up outside of Antarctica.**

**2. The reference Kowalski was making was Sir Alec Jeffery, who first reported DNA profiling.**

**3. The story referenced here was Anastasia. Not the animated one. The real one.**

**4. All of the fake historical figures share names with famous real ones: **

** Benjamin Robespierre: Explained above. I don't think Robespierre is much of a hero, but I'm no history buff.**

** Emperor Louis-Napoleon de Penguin: Named for the final Royals of France (I think... again, not much of a history buff): King Louis XVI and Napoleon Bonaparte.**

** Maria Antonia de Penguin: Slight modification of Marie Antoinette.**

** Queen Katherine de Penguin: Named for Czarina Catherine the Great of Russia.**

**Rest assured, as soon as I have a plot, there will be a sequel! ...eventually.**


End file.
